Ochiul Mov, Argint Ochiul
by Noreht
Summary: Elyk, a young Lienid Graceling, has no idea what his Grace is-except that it's very powerful. When a new threat from over the border shows up, he and his companions must rise to stop it-with a little help from Katsa & Co. BEWARE, FOR HERE THAR BE GAYNESS.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so, I just finished reading "Graceling" by Kristin Cashore for like the third time. In a row. Because it's amazing. 8DDD And so I decided I wanted to write fanfiction for it. Because it's amazing. HOWEVER. I will warn you that although Katsa and Po appear in this story, along with Raffin, Bitterblue, and Oll, it's going to mostly be made up of my OC's--people in Katsa's training camp thing. I just wanted you to know that because I know that some people don't like reading fanfiction with an OC as the main character. So yeah. On with the story! XD**  
----x-----

**Title:** Ochiul Mov, Argint Ochiul (Romanian)

**Alternate Story Title:** Purple Eye, Silver Eye

**Chapter Title:** Chapter One

**Alternate Chapter Title:** N/A

**Summary:** Elyk, a young Lienid Graceling, has no idea what his Grace is—only that it's powerful enough to save the Seven Kingdoms. When a brand-new enemy from over the border arrives, he and his companions must rise to stop it—with a little help from Katsa & Co.

**Pairings(s):** Elyk/Jakob; Katsa/Po; Raffin/Bann; Bitterblue/Hael (OC)

**Rating:** Young Adult (YA)/T for Teen

**Warning(s):** Violence, gore, psychological stuff, torture, shounen-ai/yaoi.

----x-----  
Elyk sighed and wiped the sweat from his multicolored eyes as he watched Lady Katsa drill the new recruits in a sequence that he had already mastered. But even if his skills were beyond this, it was good to relearn the basics. And Lady Katsa seemed to like that he came to participate in most of her classes. (1)

A sound behind him—a rock skittering along the floor—alerted him to someone's approach. He turned and came face-to-face with his father, Naes.

"Hello, Father." He ground his teeth together, anticipating a verbal lashing for still being at the training camp.

"Elyk." The man nodded in his general direction and made no further acknowledgement to his son's presence, seemingly content to watch the boys and girls dueling in Ror's courtyard.

Elyk turned, back tense, to sweep his gaze over the spectacle as well. Though the man beside him was his father, Elyk did not enjoy his company--because usually his company was gained at the expense of Elyk's dignity, with near-constant jabs at everything from his elusive Grace to his strength to his intelligence. Mostly the Grace.

Naes seemed to disregard the usual Lienid attitude towards Gracelings, opting instead to treat his son with disdain and sometimes contempt. Elyk knew, however, that this was really only because of the fact that no one, not even Elyk, was entirely sure what his Grace was. Occasionally it seemed as though his Grace was perhaps cooking—and then he would burn the morning eggs. Another time it might seem to be that he was Graced with balance and direction—until he ran into a wall. Or he might become exceptionally good at sensing whether the milk was rotten, and then buy a decidedly unripe tomato at the market. No one knew.

Not even Elyk, nor Lady Katsa, nor Prince Po. Elyk wasn't quite sure why he had asked them, either. They hadn't been able to help at all, except for a small piece of advice the Lady had given him.

----x-----

"Well… And I don't know what to tell you, honestly. If Po couldn't pick up on it, I won't be able to either."

Elyk turned, somewhat dejectedly, from Lady Katsa, thanking her.

"But…" she said slowly, causing him to turn back to her. "My cousin, Prince Raffin of the Middluns, just recently sent word that he was developing a medicine of sorts that might be able to tell a person's Grace. If you decided to go there, he might have it perfected by then."

Elyk's face slowly transformed into a grin. He resisted the urge to throw his arms around her for a hug, realizing that he'd probably end up with a knife between his ribs if he did so. Instead, he whirled around and said, "Thank you, Lady Katsa! Thank you so much!"

He turned once more, planning to go home and pack right away. _Maybe I'll take Jakob along,_ he thought.

Lady Katsa stopped him with a hand to the shoulder. "_However_," she said, "it would be a good idea for you to finish your training here. Come here tomorrow when the sun is a handbreadth away from the horizon."

He nodded, then turned and ran home, not quite sure what reaction to expect from his parents or friends. But he was going to tell them anyway, and no matter what anyone said, he was going to the Middluns. This meant too much to him not to go.

----x-----

**(1) Just to clarify—yes, Elyk is a man. I know Katsa said that the training camp was going to be for girls that didn't know how to defend themselves, but I figure that, especially in Lienid, she would let the men in, because they would hear about what a great program it was, or that Lady Katsa was teaching it, so they would want to take class. I don't think Katsa's such a feminist that she would deny them. If you think she is, fine. But this is my story, so she's not. XD**


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Ochiul Mov, Argint Ochiul (Romanian)

**Alternate Story Title:** Purple Eye, Silver Eye

**Chapter Title:** Chapter Two

**Alternate Chapter Title:** N/A

**Summary:** Elyk, a young Lienid Graceling, has no idea what his Grace is—only that it's powerful enough to save the Seven Kingdoms. When a brand-new enemy from over the border arrives, he and his companions must rise to stop it—with a little help from Katsa & Co.

**Pairings(s):** Elyk/Jakob; Katsa/Po; Raffin/Bann; Bitterblue/Hael (OC)

**Rating:** Young Adult (YA)/T for Teen

**Warning(s):** Violence, gore, psychological stuff, torture, shounen-ai/yaoi.

**Also, just as a little side-note sort of thing, Elyk is pronounced "EE-lick", Jakob is like Jacob, and Hael is said like "Hail". 8D**

----x-----

_**Elyk's POV**_

_A hand's breadth above the horizon_, I thought, trudging ruefully towards the camp, _is much too close to be awake._

I was surprised (or as surprised as I could be when I was so exhausted) to see around twenty more students already gathered, most of them female, I noted. They laughed when they saw me, hair mussed (but clean), clothes gray to fit my mood. They stilled their laughter when they saw my eyes, no doubt wrongly assuming that I had a fighting Grace.

Katsa smirked at me and said, "You have no idea what it is to be tired."

"With all due respect, My Lady, neither do you," Po teased, coming up behind her.

"Yes, yes, alright. First stance!" she called to the students.

I groaned and joined them.

----x-----

By the time the sun was barely half-a-hand's breadth from where it had been when I arrived, we were sparring. By my calculations, that meant that I'd been awake for little under an hour—twenty minutes to wake up, get ready, and leave my house; a ten minute walk to the training grounds; and another twenty minutes for us to flow through the stances, and, after that, the fighting forms.

Katsa walked among us, eying each quite thoroughly before moving on to the next.

"Aw, come now, Lady, you've already paired us each up! Let us get into our usual groups and the new comer can see what a true match is!" shouted one of the more impatient and enthusiastic students, a humungous, brawny fellow by the name of Immas.

Katsa flinched and a dagger impaled a post next to the man. Without turning to see where it had landed, she said, "I suggest you let _me_ run my class, or I shall have _you_ run _out_ of it." She continued down the row of silent boys and girls, some as young as perhaps ten.

I wondered at that. Was this an even lower level of class than the one that took place at noon each day? Or was this class perhaps… _better_ than the others? I shook my head to clear it of the troubling thoughts and peered sleepily down the line to find Lady Katsa.

Somehow, she was standing right in front of me. I jumped, startled, and she said, "Lesson number… Well, they don't really have numbers, but this one is very important: Never, _ever_, let your enemy sneak up on you as I have just done. It would mean instant death."

With that, she turned away and carried on down the row.

I was rather shaken and disappointed in myself until the girl next to me, one about my age, clapped me on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, she does it to everyone their first time here." This statement was met by a series of nods from those around us.

Eventually, the Lady returned to the front of the arena and said, "Based on the various ages, body types, skill levels, and personal talents of some of our students," she said, looking very specifically at the Gracelings in the crowd, "I have re-matched some of you. The rest will be staying with their current partners unless Prince Po or I indicate otherwise. Understood?"

The voices of the students raised in a cacophony of noise, calling out affirmatives.

"Elyk." I turned towards her. "I want you and Immas to spar each other here in front of me, where I can watch."

Immas roared with laughter, and even I could admit that he had good reason to. Immas was at least six and a half feet tall and rippled with muscles. At age fifteen, I was just under six foot, and, though well-defined, I was probably outweighed by fifty or so pounds.

I swallowed hard and went to stand with my opponent in front of Lady Katsa. Immas and I, following standard procedure, bowed to one another to show respect, then slipped into our favorite stances. I was slightly surprised that Immas chose the Horse stance, but then I re-analyzed that perspective. The Horse stance was deep and spread apart, but for someone as tall as he was, it was a good stance for him. His center of balance was lower, and he could more easily use his arms, which were obviously his main offense and defense.

I processed this barely a second and a half after it had happened. Then I registered that the look on Immas' face went from cocky to confused and maybe a bit scared.

"Your… Your eyes, Graceling! They just…"

"They what?"

He shook his head. "I… I could have sworn that I saw them change color for half a second, but now they're back to how they were before."

"Huh," I said.

"I don't care if his eyes change colors, I want to see you two spar! Now begin!"

----x-----

The match didn't last long. As soon as I had realized Immas' advantages, I had seen his disadvantages as well.

He moved first—a step forward, followed by a very reliable move to test out new enemies: a simple punch towards the jaw.

I bent backwards and arched my feet to keep my balance, then grabbed his wrist and twisted it away from my face. It took a couple of steps, but then I was behind him, wrist in hand. I chopped the base of his neck—right above the spinal cord—and he gasped in pain.

"Do you yield?" I asked him, practically hissing in his ear.

----x-----

**LOL. That was fun to write. BUUUUUT, it's now 11:40 and I must go to bed. Plus I'm sick and I have to get up at seven tomorrow (Saturday, April 17, 2010). Bleah. D8 But oh well. It's for a good cause (dance recital practice—TAP CLASS YAAAAAAY!) so… I'll deal. But none of you really care about that, you just want the chapter. So here it is! 8DD Buh-bye now!**

**P.S. Anyone have any thoughts as to Elyk's Grace? I'd love to hear them—and then laugh when you're wrong! LOL JKJK. I honestly only have a slight inkling of what I might want his Grace to be, so you might actually be the one to pick it! Review or PM me with your idea and we'll see. (I'll credit the person that chooses, if I find one that I like better than my idea. Which I very well might!)**

**TA-TA! (That reminds me of Tigger! 8DDDD)**


End file.
